Known filling machines for filling bottles or similar containers with a liquid filling material typically include a rotor having a plurality of filling positions, each having one filling element. The filling positions are disposed on the rotor so that they rotate with the rotor about a vertical machine axis.
Filling machines of this type require periodic cleaning. To achieve this, a cleaning assembly is provided on the machine rack of the filling machine. This machine rack does not rotate with the rotor. The cleaning assembly has two arched pipe sections. Rinsing caps protrude above upper faces of the pipe sections.
A lifting device moves the pipe sections, with their rinsing caps, between a starting position and a working-and-rinsing position. In the starting position, the pipe sections and the rinsing caps are located to the side of the transport element and above the filling positions. In the working-and-rinsing position, the rinsing caps, following a delivery from below, lie in a sealed position against, in each case, one filling element. This known filling machine is structurally costly. Additionally, it is not suitable for aseptic filling of containers.
Also known are filling machines in which a linear transport section moves containers to be filled past filling elements or dispensing nozzles.
A cleaning device for cleaning the dispensing nozzles in these types of machines has an adapter that can be axially shifted between a starting position and a working-or-rinsing position.
In the starting position, during container-filling, the cleaning device is outside the trajectory of the containers. In the working-or-rinsing position, a guide with an actuation device guides the cleaning device. This filling machine is structurally costly because of the devices for cleaning the dispensing nozzles. It also has numerous angled areas or surfaces on which foreign substances or germs can accumulate. This makes it unsuitable for aseptic filling.
Another known filling machine has rinsing caps on the rotor of the filling machine. These rinsing caps connect to a return flow or drainage channel for draining away sterilizing medium. A common ring that concentrically encloses the machine axis defines a drainage channel. Rotating or swiveling this common ring brings the rinsing caps, each of which is assigned to a filling element, from a starting position to a working position.
In the starting position, the caps are outside the filling elements and the containers to be filled during the filling operation. In the working position, each rinsing cap is brought into a sealed position against the filling element associated with it. In this sealed position, it forms a rinsing space or rinsing channel that is sealed to the outside and that encloses at least the dispensing opening of the filling element. Sterilization medium then flows through the rinsing space thus formed.
A disadvantage of this type of cleaning system is that the resulting dense population of rinsing caps restricts structural freedom and imposes undesirable design constraints.
Also known are rotating filling machines for aseptic filling of bottles or other containers with a free-jet of liquid filling material. To avoid contamination of the filling material during the filling, such filling machines have a housing, or isolator, that forms an isolator chamber through which the filling positions and the empty containers move during the filling process.
A disadvantage of this kind of filling machine is that both the filling elements and the isolator chamber must be cleaned. This makes it necessary to avoid having stray droplets of cleaning medium collecting in areas inside the isolator chamber.
Another problem that arises in this kind of filling machine is that the drives for moving the rinsing caps between their starting position and working position are arranged inside the isolator chamber. This creates numerous additional surfaces that form angled areas where leftover sterilization medium can accumulate.